Editing Jonathan Clements

{{Short description|British author and scriptwriter (born 1971)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
[[File:Jonathan Clements.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Jonathan Clements at [[72nd World Science Fiction Convention|Loncon]].]]

'''Jonathan Michael Clements''' (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of [[Confucius]], [[Koxinga]] and [[Qin Shi Huang]], as well as monthly opinion columns for ''[[Neo (magazine)|Neo]]'' magazine. He is also the co-author of encyclopedias of [[anime]] and [[Japanese television drama]]s.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/about/ | title=About Jonathan Clements | date=6 August 2008 }}</ref>

== Background ==
Clements speaks both [[Chinese language|Chinese]] and [[Japanese language|Japanese]], and many of his works relate to [[East Asia]]. He wrote his [[master's degree]] at the [[University of Stirling]] on [[manga]] and [[anime]] exports, predicting the rise of several trends in the international industry including back-to-front printing, direct American investment in anime, and the proliferation of attempts to substitute non-Japanese products. Subsequently, he translated over 70 anime and manga works for British distributors, and worked as a voice director and actor. He wrote his PhD at the University of Wales on the industrial history of Japanese animation, later published by the British Film Institute as ''Anime: A History''.<ref>Clements, Jonathan (2023). ''Anime: A History''. London: Bloomsbury Academic. pp. x–xi.</ref>

He served two years at [[Titan Books]] in London as the editor of ''Manga Max'' magazine, an experience he would later fictionalise as the [[Judge Dredd]] adventure ''Trapped on Titan''. In 2000, he received the Japan Festival Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Understanding of Japanese Culture, specifically for his work on ''Manga Max''.

== Broadcast work ==
Shortly after leaving the editorship of ''Manga Max'' magazine, he became a presenter on the [[Sci-Fi Channel]]'s Japan-themed magazine show ''Saiko Exciting''. He has been a consultant and talking head on numerous TV shows, including ''New Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors'' ([[Channel 4]]), ''Koxinga: Sailing into History'' ([[National Geographic (TV network)|National Geographic]]), ''China's Jade Empire'' (Channel 4), and ''Chinese Chariot Revealed'' ([[PBS]]). In 2016, he became the presenter of three seasons of ''[[Route Awakening]]'' ([[National Geographic (Asia)|National Geographic Asia]]), a series investigating the origins of several key Chinese cultural icons.

In 2019, he appeared on ''[[Christmas_University_Challenge#2019|Christmas University Challenge]]'' as a member of the winning Leeds University team, alongside [[Henry Gee]] and [[Timothy Allen]], captained by [[Richard Coles]].

== Script work ==
Although Clements has written a couple of novels, much of his fiction work is CD audio drama or radio under the auspices of [[Big Finish Productions]], including the ''[[Strontium Dog]]'' series, starring [[Simon Pegg]], and the [[Doctor Who]] spin-off ''[[Sympathy for the Devil (Doctor Who audio)|Sympathy for the Devil]]'', starring [[David Warner (actor)|David Warner]] and [[David Tennant]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bigfinish.com/contributors/v/Jonathan-Clements-69 | title=Jonathan Clements - Contributions - Big Finish }}</ref>

* ''Down to Earth'' (London: Big Finish, 2002; web, BBCi, 2005) ([[Strontium Dog]])
* ''Trapped on Titan'' (London: Big Finish, 2002) ([[Judge Dredd]])
* ''Unbound: Sympathy for the Devil'' (London: Big Finish, 2003) ([[Doctor Who]])
* ''Fire From Heaven'' (London: Big Finish, 2003 web, BBCi, 2005) (Strontium Dog)
* ''99 Code Red'' (London: Big Finish, 2003) (Judge Dredd)
* ''Pre-Emptive Revenge'' (London: Big Finish, 2004) (Judge Dredd)
* ''Solo'' (London: Big Finish, 2005) (Judge Dredd)
* ''Snake Head'' (London: Big Finish, 2005) (Doctor Who: UNIT)
* ''Red Devils'' (London: Noise Monster, 2005) ([[Space 1889]])
* ''Immortal Beloved'' (London: Big Finish, 2007; radio, BBC7, 2008) (Doctor Who)
* ''Brave New Town'' (London: Big Finish, 2008; radio, BBC7, 2009) (Doctor Who)
* ''The Destroyer of Delights'' (London: Big Finish, 2009) (Doctor Who)
* ''The Tiger's Tail'' (London: Big Finish, 2009) ([[Robin Hood]])
* ''The Deer Hunters'' (London: Big Finish, 2009) (Robin Hood)
* ''Secret of the Sword'' (London: Big Finish, 2009) ([[Highlander (franchise)|Highlander]])
* ''Survival of the Fittest'' (London: Big Finish, 2010; radio, [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]], 2012) (Doctor Who)
* ''The Devil's Playground'' (London: Big Finish, 2010) (Judge Dredd)
* ''Year Zero'' (London: Big Finish, 2010) ([[Bernice Summerfield]])
* ''Death Note: die hörspielreihe'' (Cologne: Lübbe Audio, 2018-19) ([[Death Note]], 12-part series released in German and French)

Other work includes the script for the comic ''Tastes Like Chicken'' in the ''Judge Dredd Megazine'', as well as assorted short stories both there and in Doctor Who anthologies. His most famous work, ''Schoolgirl Milky Crisis'', was the name for a fictional TV series that Clements often used in his ''[[Newtype USA]]'' columns in order to avoid breaking various [[non-disclosure agreement]]s regarding real titles that he had worked on as a writer, director or translator. The name was later used as the title to a collection of Clements's articles and speeches.

== Books ==
Clements's many non-fiction publications, on subjects ranging from the history of the [[Vikings]] to the life of Chairman [[Mao Zedong|Mao Tse-tung]], serve as research for his fiction. His books have been translated into a dozen languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and Korean. His major works include:
* ''The Moon in the Pines'' (2000, reprinted in paperback as ''Zen Haiku'', 2007)
* ''[[The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917]]'' (1st ed. 2001, 2nd ed. 2006, 3rd ed. 2015, with [[Helen McCarthy]])
* ''The [[Japanese television drama|Dorama]] Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese TV Drama Since 1953'' (2003, with Motoko Tamamuro)
* ''The Pirate King: [[Coxinga]] and the Fall of the Ming Dynasty'' (2004, publ. in paperback as ''Coxinga'', 2005)
* ''[[Confucius]]: A Biography'' (2004, expanded 2nd ed. 2017)
* ''A Brief History of the Vikings'' (2005)
* ''[[Qin Shihuangdi|The First Emperor of China]]'' (2006, 2nd ed. 2015)
* ''[[Wu Zetian|Wu]]'' (2007, 2nd ed. 2014)
* ''[[Beijing]]: The Biography of a City'' (2008, 2nd ed. as ''An Armchair Traveller's History of Beijing'', 2016; 3rd ed. as ''A Short History of Beijing'', 2022)
* ''[[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim|Mannerheim: President, Soldier, Spy]]'' (2009)
* ''A Brief History of the [[Samurai]]'' (2010)
* ''[[Tōgō Heihachirō|Admiral Togo: Nelson of the East]]'' (2010)
* ''A Brief History of [[Khubilai Khan]]'' (2010)
* ''Sun Tzu's Art of War: A New Translation'' (2012)
* ''An Armchair Traveller's History of the Silk Road'' (2013)
* ''Anime: A History'' (2013, 2nd ed. 2023)
* ''An Armchair Traveller's History of Finland'' (2014, 2nd ed. as ''A Short History of Finland'', 2022)
* ''Christ's Samurai: The True Story of the Shimabara Rebellion'' (2016)
* ''A Brief History of the Martial Arts'' (2016)
* ''A Brief History of Japan: Samurai, Shōgun and Zen: The Extraordinary Story of the Land of the Rising Sun'' (2017)
* ''A Brief History of China: Dynasty, Revolution and Transformation: From the Middle Kingdom to the People's Republic'' (2019)
* ''The Emperor's Feast: A History of China in Twelve Meals'' (2021)
* ''Japan at War in the Pacific: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire in Asia (1868–1945)'' (2022)
* ''Rebel Island: The Incredible History of Taiwan'' (2024)

In 2011, he became a contributing editor to ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'' 3rd edition,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com/blog/?p=2712 |title=The Official Schoolgirl Milky Crisis Blog » Blog Archive » Get Lost... |publisher=Schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com |date=10 October 2011 |access-date=2011-12-02}}</ref> with special responsibility for Chinese and Japanese entries.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.schoolgirlmilkycrisis.com Schoolgirl Milky Crisis blog]—Jonathan Clements' blog of essays and news
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140707002609/http://www.muramasaindustries.com/ Muramasa Industries]—The official web site of Jonathan Clements via the Internet Archive
* {{IMDb name|1720848|Jonathan Clements}}
* {{isfdb name|id=Jonathan_Clements|name=Jonathan Clements}}
* [http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/clements_jonathan Entry] in  ''[[The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]''
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BevPFBmOdig Keynote address: "Wrong About Anime"] at Anifest 2012, Czech Republic

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Clements, Jonathan}}
[[Category:1971 births]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Stirling]]
[[Category:Anime and manga critics]]
[[Category:English biographers]]
[[Category:English book editors]]
[[Category:English non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:English radio writers]]
[[Category:English science fiction writers]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:English male novelists]]
[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Wales]]
[[Category:British Japanologists]]
[[Category:British sinologists]]
[[Category:British historians]]
[[Category:British male biographers]]